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I disliked the whole ensemble on Mary. There was too much going on with the bouffont hair, the Ruby Parure, the Order of the Elephant, and the midnight blue satin gown did not fit her correctly. I believe that evening's event was a major fashion faux pas for Mary.

You couldn't have said it better, also I think the fact that Mary was after birth and slightly fuller made the dress seem a little tight.

For me, its the ivyleaves. The attention to detail with the authenticity of shape and size is just gorgeous.

Clearly of a Napoleonic (Empire) manufacture, the craftmanship of the parure is simply magnificant and as was noted by another member, it compliments Mary's delicate features to no end.

I take it you agree then MARG ..hehe?

It is definately Napoleonic. When Napoleon was to be crowned emperor in 1804 he made sure the coronation would look as splendid as possible by giving all his marshalls money so they could buy jewels for their wives. This ruby parure was bought by Jean Baptiste Bernadotte for his wife Desirée. They later became king and queen of sweden and their great-granddaugther became queen of Denmark. She inherited the set which was thought fitting as it had the Danish colours, red and white.

Desirée Bernadotte/Queen Desideria was a small woman, judging by her portraits. She filled out a bit as she got older but she remained petite.Still she wore the big and impressive ruby parure which we nowadays think might be too much for the much taller CP Mary. Fashions change.

I agree with you iowabelle. Even though the ruby parure itself is beautiful, it looks heavy on Mary.

I disagree that it is too heavy or large for her. It is my opinion that her wedding tiara is too small for her, and gets lost...one really must look hard to see it, sometimes. I am not, however, a big fan of the ruby parure. First of all, I detest the way it is made, with groups of smaller rubies composing what should be one ruby in the motif. Nonetheless, it is a nice ensemble. My problem with it on Mary is that she wears the tiara as if it were some sort of headband arching over her ears. In my opinion she ought to wear it slightly farther back on her head and more upright so that the whole tiara does not lie flat against the top of her head. (Difficult to explain as that is).

I have to say that I, too, think that Mary looks wonderfully regal in the ruby parue--it suits her coloring perfectly and I don't think it is too heavy on her, either. I also agree with the previous post about her wedding tiara--it does get lost on her.
Now, when is it too much? Personally, I think this picture of the Grosvenor pearl tiara sums it up:

First, the dress may well be the big problem here, but irregardless, there is just too much going on here. Even our beloved Queen Mary--who loved to pile it on--would not have worn THOSE earrings with that ensemble.

__________________Janet

"We make a living by what we do; we make a life by what we give" Winston Churchill

I think that you may find some good examples of "Too much" in the official pictures of Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, wife of Alexander III and mother of Nicholas II. Her jewelry was too luxurious. Just look at her necklaces and tiaras...The daimonds she would wore were as big as some bird's eggs. You feel like going to search black glasses to put on! I like her a lot, but I do not like her taste for putting all these diamons over her as if she was a Christmas Tree...

I totally agree--the older royals, especially, look like a jewel box vomited on them. Frankly, Wallis, the Duchess of Windsor, could have taught classes on how to wear your over the top jewelry well. She could pull off the huge, gaudy, wonderful and look regal and elegant. Not to mention the clothes these women wear....awful, just awful. The tatty bridesmaid gowns don't add to the splendor one bit. Just my humble opinion....

I totally agree--the older royals, especially, look like a jewel box vomited on them. Frankly, Wallis, the Duchess of Windsor, could have taught classes on how to wear your over the top jewelry well. She could pull off the huge, gaudy, wonderful and look regal and elegant. Not to mention the clothes these women wear....awful, just awful. The tatty bridesmaid gowns don't add to the splendor one bit. Just my humble opinion....

Welcome scottb,

Nice to have a new member with excellent writing style I have to say I, totally, agree with you!

Well, dear Members, I could not disagree more!!!! The Desiree Clary ruby parurue currently being worn by Crown Princess Mary is a masterpiece of the jewelers art in all its aspects. She looks marvelous. As for overdoing of it, I would agree according to our current taste that some of the 19th century royals were overdone, but according to the style of that era they were not. The empress Marie was wonderful, the massive and magnificent jewels created a staggering impression of wealth, power and grandeur, which is exactly what they were designed and intended to do. In this day and time I would tone her and our beloved Queen Mary down a bit, but not by much. If you have jewels why be demure about it. As for the Jackie Kennedy look, that is so sixties and dated that it is just as ridiculous to praise that as it is to denigrate the royals of another era. The Empress Farah was supposed to look over bedecked in comparrison with Jackie, but truth to tell the poor first lady looked just like our poor, second class American cousin. Farah's emerald parurue was magnificent beyond belief.

If y0u got it, flaunt it say I. And if it is too bad we will send you over to the tender mercies of the Worst Jewels Thread. Cheers.

Dearest Thomas--I was on the Royal Jewels of the World Message Board and saw where a member had posted this photo of Queen Mary wearing the Durbar--it is the best photo I have seen of this tiara in its original form, I thought of you, enjoy it-----

From that ruby thing we've seen previously, it would seem that Camilla favours large necklaces. However, I think she might better have stayed with two or three strands rather than the full five. It is a beautiful piece, but the ensemble comes across as so HEAVY!